Memory
by Digi12
Summary: RyuzakixOC From a fashionistas ball to a faked murder, Ryuzaki finds himself in the middle of a million-dollar scandal involving the prestigious Maria Suzanna modeling/clothing company and a girl with amnesia that he's getting ALL too close to...


10:47 P.M.

Astoria Hotel Dining Room

_30th year Anniversary Party of the Maria Suzanna Industry_

She was one of those people.

One of those people that walk into a room and SHOULD be the center of attention, but then the BIGGER center of attentions come and drown her out.

Right now, that girl mentioned above, that red-headed girl was following around Maria Suzanna, prestigious founding mother and CEO of the world-wide Maria Suzanna brand name clothing line, modeling agency _and_ cosmetics line.

In the case of Ryuzaki Taishi, Dinosaur Ryuzaki in the dueling world, how he knew this was irrelevant.

Or, maybe it wasn't. After all, that skinny, tall red-head WAS carrying around Maria Suzanna's little rat Chihuahua (he judged by the gaudy-big MS charm on its collar) and Maria Suzanna's big fucking bag and yet still somehow managed to maintain a sense of.... placement among the rich fashion-wise shmucks that were invited to this party.

He could use it to start conversation.....if she even cared.

And he was pretty sure that the floor length, white evening gown and arm-long white gloves were part of the Maria Suzanna line. Otherwise, she might've been in big trouble.

Suzanna had the girl by her side almost the whole night. At one point, they both vanished and upon their return, the girl looked miserable and the woman looked angry beyond belief. Sure, after that point, they both calmed down but even Ryuzaki could see a cold war of sorts between them.

"I don't know why we're here." He said simply to his best friend, shifting uncomfortably in his tux. "You hate tuxes, you hate rich people, you hate _everything_ so why come?" Haga Nagamori gave a derisive stare at Ryuzaki's remark, a napkin full of hors d'oeuvres in his hand.

"For the food, duh." He scoffed, sneaking some mini-quiches into his pocket, safely tucked into a napkin. "Plus, if I have to be stuck at my sisters' stupid agencies' party, you do too."  
"Why did she invite US anyway?" The dino-freak prodded further. "She's not even a model."

"I can hear you." A female voice said from behind them. She flipped back her sea foam green hair, like Haga's, and took a drag on her cigarette between her fingernails.  
"Hey! You're supposed to smoke OUTSIDE, 'Taru!" Haga scowled at the woman. Ryuzaki took this time to slip his nose and mouth under the neckline of his rented dress shirt. Hotaru Nagamori looked at her brother and rolled her eyes at him.  
"So what? I thought you were all 'fuck the rules' and shit."

"Yeah, but your drags make me puke." He scoffed at her. "Sort of like your face."

"Both of you, shut up." Ryuzaki scoffed, watching the dark-skinned red-headed girl scramble to re-grab the dog that jumped out of her arms.  
"What are you LOOKING at that's so fascinating?" Haga asked, spying out into the crowd.  
"Nothing! Jesus! Give me some credit!" He said as the girl finally scooped the pup back into the bag and rushed over to the now snarling CEO. The woman's curly blonde hair bounced as she shook her head at the red-headed girl, blue eyes looking down at her disdainfully and she grabbed her dog out of the bag. The girl sighed, placing the bag on the floor but then removing a purse and keeping it in her hands. She watched Suzanna grab it, still gnawing at the girls faulty, he assumed. As she walked away, the red-head opened her purse and grabbed something, turning around and walking out the double doors, outside.  
"I'm going outside for some air." Ryuzaki said to his friend and said friends sister as they argued, muffled by his shirt collar. They seemed to pay no mind as he left for the door. He slipped his face free of his shirt, placing a hand on the brass bar of the doors. The duelist peered through the glass and spotted the red-head, a small notebook in her lap as she took her middle glove finger between her teeth and pulled off the white glove, grabbing it with her other hand. Her now bare, manicured hand reached into the purse and pulled out a pencil and she began to doodle in the book. Black droplets fell from her golden brown eyes as she searched for something to wipe them off with.

Good God, she was _crying_...He HATED when they cried.

Ryuzaki sighed a little and opened the door, stepping outside.  
"Excuse me?" he asked. The girl jumped a bit, snapping the book shut and turning to him with a startled face. She blinked a bit, fighting down tears and bit her bottom lip.  
"Sorry." He tried, tensing a bit. He already screwed up, it seemed.

"No, no, _I'm_ sorry." She managed to squeak out, her voice soft but high in pitch. "You...you just startled me..." The girl told him, using her non-gloved hand to wipe the corners of her eyes.

"Hey." He moaned, seeing her brushing away mascara stained tears. "Don't....don't....ugh...look," He tried, digging through his pocket. He pulled out a white napkin and held it out to her. "Here." She looked at it, then up at him. "It's clean....Minus one or two olives." He said with a bit of a shrug. She mustered a small, still semi-miserable smile and accepted the napkin with her ungloved hand.

"Thank you." She choked, dabbing her eyes elegantly with the paper napkin.

"No problem." He said, shoving his hands in his pocket. Ryuzaki moved to lean against the wall and looked down at her.

Even without all the make-up junk, she could steal a room...

Provided, Maria Suzanna didn't shove her campy little canine into her arms.

"Listen...I saw what happened back there-"  
"Oh! I know...everyone saw..." She sighed, wiping her eyes again with a small sniffle. "They didn't make a scene over it but they all saw." The girl opened the book again, doodling some more. Ryuzaki looked over and noted the curves and hemlines.... a dress, with M.S. stitched into the bottom. M.S. for Maria Suzanna.

And at the bottom was...a letter? He couldn't tell, her hand was in the way.

Wait...he could see it now. A 'D', two 'D's. D.D. An abbreviation? Signature?

His eyes went from the drawing to her fingers; the area around the fingers was slightly red and a bit puffy. There were some marks on the back of her hand too, small scars that almost couldn't be seen.

"I mean...it was one simple thing. 'Watch Connie' and I couldn't even do that." She sighed, stopping her sketch and setting the pencil down.  
"Connie?" he asked, returning his focus to her.

"Constantine. Her dog." She said with a little hiccup but that was it. She was calming down, thank God. "Constantine Marilena Suzanna. Connie Sue or Connie for short." She let out a small huff of air, returning to her sadness. "And I screwed it up."  
"Well, it's not your thing to do." He shrugged. She blinked and looked up at him, dabbing newer tears with the napkin. "That's something her assistant should be doing, not one of her designers."  
"One of...Oh, no." She denied, smiling a bit. "No, no...I'm not a designer...I just want to be."  
"Really?" He asked. She tilted her head a bit and shrugged.

"Yeah, when I applied for a job at M.S., none of the designer jobs were open."  
"So now you're her assistant?" He asked. "How'd you get suckered into that?"  
"Not _even_ her assistant." She shook her head. "I'm just a model."

There was a pause. He felt his jaw drop.

......_What_?

"...You're not...like...pulling my chain here...are you?" He asked. He couldn't be talking to...

Not him...not her....not a _model_.

She giggled a bit. "Surprising, I know. They usually don't go for exotic features but, I'm apparently an exception." The red-head smiled a bit more, the tears dried up. "But, all I've been talking about is myself. How rude of me."  
"All I've been asking about is you." Ryuzaki shrugged. "You're crying, why would I talk about me?" She smiled at him again.  
"You're an angel."  
"I'm a person who knows several dozen people who will disagree with that statement." He said with a small hint of amusement. She rolled her eyes.  
"Well, obviously, they're not looking hard enough." Her teeth showed in her smile now.

The door opened, a young male with slicked back silver hair and strong black eyes looking down at her. She averted her gaze from him, returning to her doodle.

"Maria's DISGRACED at what happened back there. She wants you gone." He scowled.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly.

"We're leaving." He said firmly, pointing to a white 2007 Corolla. "Get in the car."  
"Gimmie a sec-"  
"No. Now." He growled. She sighed.

"I'll be right there, Gary." He growled a bit, storming off. She shrugged. "Sorry, THAT'S one of our designers. Garrison Luisi."

"Nice guy." Ryuzaki dripped, watching him unlock the car and get in. He walked like he had a stick up his ass.

_Then again...with a name like Garrison Luisi...and a fashion designer..._  
"Don't I know it." She scoffed. "Not even a GOOD designer." She bit her finger. "But I ramble, and so disdainfully too. Very unlady like." She waved her hand a bit, dismissing the topic. "So then, before I leave, what's your name?"

"Ryuzaki Taishi." He said before tugging on his hat a bit.

......Okay, he wore it. So what?  
"But people call me Dinosaur Ryuzaki."

"Ryuzaki." She tried the name. The redhead smiled again. Damn, she was cute. "I like that name. It's fun."

"Unless you have it." He told her. She giggled a bit.

"You're funny. I like you." The girl pulled her glove back on, pocketing her notebook.

"What agency do you work with?"

"None." He said, shrugging a bit. He loosened his jacket a bit, leaning against the wall of the building. "I came with my friend and his sister. She hates these things...and so does he."  
"So then why did they come?" The red-head asked, closing the notebook.

"To be miserable." He shrugged. She rolled her eyes.

"Some people...so what do you do?"  
"I'm in college. Paleontology."

"Dinosaurs?" She gasped a bit.

"Prehistoric life." He corrected. "But mostly dinosaurs. They're my favorite."

"I can tell." She giggled. "DINOSAUR Ryuzaki."

"Yeah, a bit of a giveaway..." He scratched the back of his head.  
"Oh!" The girl exclaimed, a hand to her face. "That reminds me. I've been very rude. I'm-"

*HOOONK!*

The white car pulled up to the front of the building, in front of the two.  
"Let's GO!" Gary glared at her from the car, window rolled down.

"O-KAY!" She yelled though it was more of a squeak. She looked at him and smiled one last time. "Before I go-"  
*HONK, HONK!*

"JESUS, GARY!" her voice was pitchy, probably a scream. The duelist covered his ears.

"Oww~."  
"Oh, sorry!" She apologized, grimacing. "Will you be at the next get-together?"  
"I dunno." He said.

More honking.

She growled at Gary one last time before puling out a card from her purse.

"Here." She said quickly, pulling her glove back on and putting her notebook in her purse. "That's the company number. Ask for-"  
"Ask for the red-headed bimbo that WON'T GET IN THE CAR!" Gary yelled. She scowled one last time before standing up.  
"Ask for the 6"1 girl in the summer fashion shoot. Call next week, Monday, okay?" She asked before waving a bit. "Sorry we couldn't chat more." She rushed to the other side of the car, got in and immediately started berating the designer as they drove off.

Ryuzaki looked at the business card. Maria Suzanna's business card. And a girl asking him to call.  
_A nice girl._

_A nice, PRETTY girl._

_A nice, pretty MODEL girl._

_God, this just seems...surreal..._

The door opened. Ryuzaki froze up. Great...

"I KNEW it." Haga grinned. "Who was _that_?" Ryuzaki adjusted his hat. Pocketing the business card, he stood up. "What are you so nervous about? What's that card?"

"God, what's with the third degree?" he barked before walking back inside.

"Come on, Ryu! Tell!"

"I don't wanna." Ryuzaki sighed, marching over to Hotaru. "Are we almost done here? I'd like to go home. I have to study."  
"Yeah, we're done." Hotaru said, putting out her cigarette on the table. "Maria has no idea what else to do anyway."

Huh?

Rex looked at the CEO. Sure enough, the woman has a confused look on her face, like she was lost.

"That's weird." The dinosaur fan remarked, watching the woman go around to her guests. "Aren't CEO's supposed to be cool, calm and collected?"  
_Or maybe that's just Kaiba..._

"Maria Suzanna is collected, but never calm." Hotaru joked, shoving her napkin into her pocket. "Have you stolen enough of the mini-whatevers yet or would you care to use _my_ pockets?"

"You'd never let me." Haga snorted, popping another tiny finger-food into his mouth. "I'm done here too. Take me home."  
"I'm not your slave." His sister scoffed as her boss walked over. Hotaru snapped to attention as the blonde stopped in front of them.

"Thank you very much for attending."  
"My pleasure, ma'am." Haga's sister said in a 'sweet' voice.

"If I may ask, does anyone know where my assistant has gone to? Red hair, 6"1?" Maria asked. Ryuzaki blinked.

_Didn't Luisi say Maria wanted her gone?_

"She left already." He told her. "Didn't you know that?"  
"Seeing as I'm asking you, I obviously didn't." She scoffed. "If she was THAT embarrassed, _and she should be_, she was supposed to tell me before she left." Maria said, folding her arms indignantly. "Do you know who she left with?"

"Your designer. Luisi."  
"Thank you." She nodded in thanks before going off again.  
"Who's Luisi?" Haga asked him. "And why the hell do YOU know all that?"  
"What do you care?" He sighed, rolling his eyes.

Something was off.

The girl said she wasn't Maria's assistant, but Maria said she was, Maria didn't know the model left, Luisi said Maria wanted her gone, and he was REAL eager to leave...

_Ugh...I've got a bad feeling in my gut...and it's giving me indigestion._

He swallowed a bit, tugging on his hat once more.

_Red-head...I hope you're okay._

---

So that's the first chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

Yes, red-head's a Mary-Sue. She's supposed to be. There aren't NEARLY enough GOOD Mary-Sue's with Rex, so why not give him one?

I own nothing.


End file.
